Scale Up and Validation of Novel Tri-Bore PVDF Hollow Fiber Membranes for Membrane Distillation Application in Desalination and Industrial Wastewater Recycling.

Novel tri-bore polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) hollow fiber membranes (TBHF) were scaled-up for fabrication on industrial-scale hollow fiber spinning equipment, with the objective of validating the membrane technology for membrane distillation (MD) applications in areas such as desalination, resource recovery, and zero liquid discharge. The membrane chemistry and spinning processes were adapted from a previously reported method and optimized to suit large-scale production processes with the objective of translating the technology from lab scale to pilot scale and eventual commercialization. The membrane process was successfully optimized in small 1.

Novel Sandwich-Structured Hollow Fiber Membrane for High-Efficiency Membrane Distillation and Scale-Up for Pilot Validation.

Hollow fiber membranes were produced from a commercial polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) polymer, Kynar HSV 900, with a unique sandwich structure consisting of two sponge-like layers connected to the outer and inner skin layers while the middle layer comprises macrovoids. The sponge-like layer allows the membrane to have good mechanical strength even at low skin thickness and favors water vapor transportation during vacuum membrane distillation (VMD). The middle layer with macrovoids helps to significantly reduce the trans-membrane resistance during water vapor transportation from the feed side to the permeate side.